Family and friends!
I have been so excited to write this update. We have been witnessing miracle after miracle this week. Unfortunately, I have 13 minutes to tell you about it. Here goes:
Remember Virgil, the guy in the wheelchair who can't read that well and has been investigating a ton of other churches? Well on Thursday we taught him again and it was the most amazing and spiritual experience I've had on my mission thus far. We had a plan to teach him the Word of Wisdom. As we met him on his porch, he extinguished his cigarette in a beer can he was drinking from and invited us in. As we talked, he told us how bad of a week he was having and how he was drinking just to try to get his mind off of things. After a prayer, we taught him about the Word of Wisdom. He was discouraged. Everything we were teaching him not to do, he was doing. We explained to him that the Word of Wisdom wasn't our commandment but the Lord's, and we testified over and over again about how God is literally his Father and Jesus Christ, his Savior. We promised him that because of their love for him, they would help him overcome his addictions if he were to ask for their divine assistance. As we testified of how much he was loved by Deity, he began to tear up, then cry, then weep uncontrollably. We allowed the Holy Ghost to teach him and bear witness to him of our words through the medium of silence. After a while, I asked him what he was feeling. He explained a sensation of relief, peace, and comfort. He revealed to us that he had felt that feeling before, and that every time we have taught him, he has felt the atmosphere change. He told us he has never felt that feeling ever before in his life, but with us. We testified that that feeling of peace was the Spirit testifying that our words were true. He wept again, and I couldn't keep tears from falling down my own cheeks. He committed to live the Word of Wisdom. We asked him to set a date to stop smoking by. We were hoping it would be a week and a half later. He told us he wanted to stop smoking by Sunday... three days later than our visit with him. He also told us that he knew that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's true church on the earth today, and that he would be baptized on December 10th! I wish we could take credit for all that happened there, but I know that the Spirit worked right through us. I literally felt like God's mouthpiece. It was so easy, yet so powerful. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be here and be an instrument in the hands of God!
Another miracle, and I'll wrap this one up. Weeks ago, our good friend Bro. Warren missed a flight out of the Greenville airport. He called us up and asked if we wanted to meet him at the Hardee's (the Eastern equivalent to Carl's Jr.) across the street from the airport for lunch. Heck yes we did. So we met him there about 20 minutes later. By the time we had gotten there, he had already become friends with the cashier. When we arrived, we made our order, and, as we were talking to her, he explained to her that he could see that she was such an amazing spirit and that she could really benefit from our message about Jesus Christ. Later, she circled around our booth several times as if she wanted something. Finally, she stopped and very timidly asked what our message was. We told her about the basics. We particularly felt that we should teach her that the gospel blesses families. As we did so, she began to cry and explain that her family was broken in pieces. We promised her that the message we shared could help her take the pain away. At that moment, she was needed at the cash register. She explained that she had no car, no phone, and that she was living with her sister, and that she would like to learn but didn't think it would work out as she rushed to help the line of new customers. When we left, we gave her our card.
On Friday, we revisited our friend at Hardee's after helping Bro. Warren move some furniture. She came by where we were sitting, pretending to be cleaning tables, to talk to us. We invited her to church. She said she would like to come. We told her we could get her a ride for 8:30, and she gave us her sister's address. Almost immediately, opposition arose. A man sitting at a nearby booth suddenly became very attentive and showed her a picture on his phone of a different church, and told her that he recommended that one. She had to go back to the cash register, but he stayed and talked with us. He was a minister (at a church besides the one he recommended) and started trying to Bible bash with us. He kept telling us that we were going to hell and that the Bible teaches that we were false prophets because we taught that our salvation is dependent upon faith AND works, not faith alone. He was calm and collected, but we could easily see the anger in his eyes and that he just wanted to contend. We bore testimony that we knew our message was true and we left.
On Saturday, we got a message on our phone from our friend, who had called from her sister's boyfriend's phone, that she would still like to go to church and would be waiting for a ride at 8:30.
On Sunday morning, during ward council meeting, we got another phone call from her asking if we could still get her a ride to church. We told her that there would be someone there to pick her up. Apparently they had a hard time finding her house, because she called us AGAIN at 8:45 and told us that no one was there to pick her up! Her ride finally got there, though, and she made it to the church right at the beginning of sacrament meeting. Elder Peck, Virgil, and I waved to her as they all walked in a little late.
She loved the meetings and felt really good while she was there. After church, we taught her about the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ and, somewhere along the way, she revealed through many tears that she had been wronged many times by abusive family members. We taught her, again through the powerful influence of the Holy Ghost, that her pain could be relieved through the power of Christ's Atonement. In the end, she smiled as she committed to read from the Book of Mormon, pray to know if it and the rest of our message is true, and be baptized as she gained a testimony of the church. Again, it was nothing we did: it was all the Spirit's work.
I have a testimony that God does His work today; that Jesus is the Christ, the Great Atoner, and the Redeemer of our souls; that His church has been restored in these days through living prophets with His authority; and that He is the way to happiness.
I hope all of you are doing well! I love you very much and hope you have a great Thanksgiving! Hope to hear from you soon! I often wonder how each of you are doing and I pray for you every day!
With love,
Elder Schank
